SALT LAKE CITY, Utah: Eli Tomac does not want to be the forgotten man of 2026. He pled the first qualification session by 1.6 seconds over the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium in the first session.
He was even faster in Q2 with a time of 49.065. With no chance to win the championship, he will settle for being the spoiler.
When the podium contenders were identified in the middle of the week, Justin Hill (49.188) was not mentioned, but he posted the second-fastest time overall.
Hunter Lawrence (49.191) was easily the fastest in qualification among the title contenders.
Fourth-place Chase Sexton (49.252) and last year’s champion, Cooper Webb (49.267), rounded out the top five.
Ken Roczen (49.864) was well down the order in ninth. That will add to the pressure.
Complete qualification results
Qualification 1
Eli Tomac (49.494) put his bike on the ground early in the session at the start of the whoops. Tomac collected his wits quickly and jumped to the top of the board in the opening laps. He was 0.138 seconds faster than the field.
Tomac does not want to be the forgotten man.
With two and a half minutes remaining on the clock, Hunter Lawrence (49.631) briefly jumped to the top, but Tomac eclipsed him later on that same lap.
Cooper Webb (49.631) posted an identical lap to Lawrence down to the thousandth of a second.
Chase Sexton (49.779) slotted into fourth.
Fourth-place Malcolm Stewart (49.831) is looking for a 2027 season after Husqvarna decided to disband its factory effort.
Ken Roczen (50.112) was consistent, but needs to find a little more speed. He was sixth on the Q1 chart.
Qualification 2
Justin Hill has been one of the most pleasant surprises in recent rounds. He topped the chart early, slipping past Tomac and Lawrence.
Hill (49.189) held the top position until the very end when he was clipped by Tomac (49.065) by a little more than a tenth of a second.
Lawrence settled for third (49.191).
Chase Sexton (49.252) took fourth.
Cooper Webb (49.267) rounded out the top five.
